1K Book Challenge Final Results

1K Book Challenge: Update One or Final Results

1K Book Challenge: Update One or Final Results
1K Book Challenge: The final results are in for everyone to have a squiz at
What a hectic 12 months this has been. The last quarter of 2016 saw me full of nail-chewing nerves (though I didn’t actually chew my nails — I comfort ate instead). It was going to be reasonably close, with a final surge in sales.

For those of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, the 1K Book Challenge involved me declaring that I would get a tattoo if any one of my books reached 1000 sales between April and the end of December last year.

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Living with a Skeleton in the Closet

Mum and we kids at the You Yangs before bipolar

Mum and we kids at the You Yangs

I need to warn anyone who might be considering reading this article that it contains swearing and disturbing imagery. The same may be true of my books, but as fiction, we can go to bed and sleep at night, knowing that none of it is true. This article, however, is a recollection of events from my past.
 
Now that you’ve been forewarned, the choice is yours … to read, or not to read.

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Constructive Criticism vs Constructive Feedback

Constructive Criticism vs Constructive Feedback

Constructive Criticism vs Constructive Feedback
If I had to choose one term to discuss that sets my teeth on edge, it would have to be constructive criticism!

Can someone please explain to me what is constructive about criticism? According to oxforddictionaries.com, one definition of:

  • Constructive is, ‘Having or intended to have a useful or beneficial purpose.’
  • Criticism is, ‘The expression of disapproval of someone or something on the basis of perceived faults or mistakes.’

When put together, aren’t those two words — constructive criticism — an oxymoron? (Or am I being a moron?) Regardless of my moronic status, nobody likes being criticised, myself included.

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The Fruit of My Labours

fruit of my labours

fruit of my labours
The other day I was silently bemoaning the fact that for so much effort I’ve had so little (financial) reward. Then I thought of the numerous fruit trees in my backyard. It was at least three years before they started to produce a good harvest. Being a ‘successful’ author is much like that. Just as you need to tend and nurture your garden, in order for it to bear fruit, you need to tend and nurture your writing … eventually it should bear fruit. Well, that’s what I’m hoping. I must admit that I am rather impatient and eager for that ‘success’ now, but the fruit tree analogy has put things back into perspective for me. Of course, ‘successful’ is a very subjective term. For me, it means earning a modest income that would enable me to quit my day job, and be no worse off financially than I am now.

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Imagination Land

Or why books are great…

Imagination
I love my imagination! It serves two purposes. The first is to give me almost all the material I need to write my stories, and the second is to enable me to visualise the characters and worlds from other authors’ books that I read.

An author creates a story to take us on a journey, but it is the reader’s imagination that brings the story to life. Watching something on the television, or going to the movies, we’re spoon-fed someone else’s vision of what the characters/places in our favourite books actually look like. I can’t recall my imaginings of a character having ever matched the TV show/movie character representation. Sometimes that spoils the show for me, especially if they’re quite different to how I imagined them.

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Let’s Say in Ten Words What Could Be Said in Three

White Chocolate

White Chocolate
This may seem somewhat off-topic, but I have to say that Aldi’s white chocolate — Choceur brand — is almost to die for. For those of you who don’t know, Aldi is a discount supermarket. I promise I’ll get to the point of this post shortly. Now, if my brother was here he’d be telling you that white chocolate is not chocolate. Technically he’s right, and if I were to talk about an off-white creamy confectionery that melts in your mouth, you’d probably know what I was talking about … but white chocolate is easier and instantly recognisable.

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Roadblock Navigation: Overcoming Hurdles That Stop You from Writing

Roadblock - take that leap

Roadblock - take that leap
Don’t dream about it, do it! Everyone has a story to tell. Some of us just don’t realise it …

Have you found your story? If you haven’t written it, why not? Are you scared? Do you feel like you’re standing at the edge of a cliff, worrying about the fall? Let yourself go. Simply enjoy the view and forget about the rest — that’s what writing is about.

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